As most people will know, Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations this year saw the return of tanks and missiles to the parade. This is the first time this has happened in 20 years, and raises some issues. The western media, yet again portraying Russia in a negative light and fanning the flames of a ‘new cold war’, have taken this as entirely negative and claimed that Russia is simply sabre rattling. While there is a degree of sabre rattling going on, there is more to it than this - there is a large amount of making sure that the past isn’t forgotten.
This is further shown in a fantastic array of informational posters about the Great Patriotic War, ranging from recognising those who developed the technology to explaining what the medals mean (the only one i photographed is below, explaining the major medals). This all indicates a generational shift - no longer is there a generation that implicity understands what Victory Day is about for Russia and its inhabitants. It is about remembering the huge sacrifice that was made to fight for survival against the Nazi invasion.
Russia Today’s coverage of the parade:
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